Major
Chemistry
Anticipated Graduation Year
2022
Access Type
Restricted Access
Abstract
The discovery of antibiotics has been crucial in human health and increasing the average life expectancy. As pathogenic bacteria have evolved and developed multidrug resistance, this has restricted the effectiveness of our current antibiotic arsenal, producing an urgent need for the discovery of new antibiotics. The enzyme Na+-NQR has been identified as a novel antibiotic target exclusively found in pathogens and is crucial for the survival of pathogenic bacteria. Lead compounds were discovered by screening ubiquinone-like compounds against the enzyme to identify those with inhibitory activity, including endochin. Compounds have been designed and synthesized to produce more potent and selective inhibitors of Na+-NQR.
Community Partners
Illinois Institute of Technology
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Daniel Becker, Professor of chemistry and faculty mentor, Department of Chemistry; Zachary Liveris, graduate student mentor, Department of Chemistry
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Design and Synthesis of Sodium-dependent NADH:Ubiquinone Oxidoreductase (Na+-NQR) Inhibitors as Novel Antibiotics
The discovery of antibiotics has been crucial in human health and increasing the average life expectancy. As pathogenic bacteria have evolved and developed multidrug resistance, this has restricted the effectiveness of our current antibiotic arsenal, producing an urgent need for the discovery of new antibiotics. The enzyme Na+-NQR has been identified as a novel antibiotic target exclusively found in pathogens and is crucial for the survival of pathogenic bacteria. Lead compounds were discovered by screening ubiquinone-like compounds against the enzyme to identify those with inhibitory activity, including endochin. Compounds have been designed and synthesized to produce more potent and selective inhibitors of Na+-NQR.